The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has denied an application to register the trademark "Redskins Hog Rinds." That's the same federal agency that will decide if Washington's NFL club gets to keep its trademark registration for its team name.

An examining attorney in the pork rind case said the refusal, which came in a letter dated Dec. 29, was made because the mark contained "a derogatory slang term."

A lawsuit brought by Amanda Blackhorse and a group of other American Indians that seeks to revoke the NFL club's federal trademark registration was heard in March and a decision could come at any time. Suzan Harjo and another group of American Indians launched a similar suit in 1992. The patent office ruled in their favor in 1999 but Harjo's group lost on appeal on technical grounds and she organized the current suit.

The letter said the pork rinds registration was denied because "the applied-for mark" contained "matter which may disparage or bring into contempt or disrepute persons, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols." The letter cited as evidence that the National Congress of American Indians finds the term "redskin" offensive. It also cited news stories in which American Indians called the term offensive, including a campaign run by the Oneida Indian Nation.

"The USPTO ruling sends a powerful message to Washington team owner Dan Snyder and the NFL that in the name of basic decency and respect they should immediately stop spending millions of dollars to promote the R-word," Oneida Indian Nation representative Ray Halbritter said in a statement.

The letter noted that the applicant could respond to the refusal by submitting evidence and arguments in support of the mark.

Even if the football club were to lose its federal trademark protection, it could continue to use its team name, but it would not have protection against others from using the mark. In practical terms, that would mean anyone could sell jerseys, novelty items, t-shirts, etc., with the team's mark on them.